This is actually a common practice in libraries. Most library automated systems don't maintain any historical record of what books were checked out. This is precisely to frustrate subpoenas of such information, librarians as a group being very keen on first amendment (or equivalent) rights and the potential for subpoena power to be abused. (I suspect the FBI was surprised to discover this.)

Some controversial websites, such as Cryptome, do the same thing for the same reason.

That all being said, the subpoenas dicussed in the article seemed quite reasonable to me, in that they were narrowly targeted. It's good to see law enforcement being increasingly intelligent and effective in pursuing cybercriminals.

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/articles/10011/29304#29304